Saturday at The Big E in Springfield

The tradition of butter sculpture continues.

I just love black and white cows and I know Carol R does too!!!

The Oreos!!!

This sheep was so sweet...

A number of reenactors were present.

Here is the prize pumpkin.

I'm Back!!!!

As some of you may know, I was temporarily severed from the web. That's right my computer crashed as they say. But luckily my computer is back on board thanks to one of the folks with whom I work. The biggie is that all my information is intact. Beware...computers can crash so save always and often to CD or disk. I've learned how dependent I am on the web...it's scary. I was actually feeling withdrawal. I missed my cybercommunications, my desktop, the web and all my information. Boy are we hooked.

Here is proof that I'm still knitting. Not a cat carrier, John, .......two sleeves for slip stitch cardigan. Marisa, John and I are headed up to the Big E this weekend to partake of some fair food and check out the livestock as well as our fair entries :).

Mystery Project Finished

Your guesses were off the mark ....LOL! Here I am modeling the project from the back. I had great fun making this. Now I'm back to working on my wool quilt. Sadly I'm off to work and can't quilt or knit until much later when I hope to go to Sue's Knit In.

Sunday Afternoon Knitting

Well.... gang I am almost finished knitting this mystery project. Can you guess what it is going to be?I started it 3pm yesterday afternoon and have about 8 more rows to complete it.

Pi Shawls R Us

As some of you may or may not know I joined the EZPi group at Yahoo because I love knitting shawls and this group plans to make an event out of a making several shawls. One of the group members asked for pics of the shawl so it gave birth to an entry devoted to EZ shawls.

This Pi Shawl shown above was knit many years ago out of unspun Lopi. I also knit one for my daughter that I named the Empty Nest Shawl. These shawls were knit with a lopi that is somewhere between a dk or light worsted weight. I used E. Zimmermann's Pi shawl pattern in Knitter's Almanac. I decided on using her suggested Gull's Wing pattern which is an easy lace pattern as well as a garter stitch border. The shawl is a no- brainer that produces wonderful results. It is so large that I sometimes use it as an afghan or folded in half as a TV shawl. It's wonderfully cozy. As you can see Bennie, my cat, loves the shawl as well.

If you love lace and shawls here are some links to check out:
Wendy's Lace Links
Knitting Geek
About.com
Interweave Knits

I was asked by Jamie my SP5 and Cathy what I plan to do with the handspun yarn in the last entry. I'm thinking of making some long wristers using a pattern in Classic Elite's new booklet. Yes.... Carol R you've enabled me as usual :).

Visit Knitgarden. I was struck by her September 14th comment about peace and her garden: "It is a peace that surprises and has no plans or expectations." I liken the peace that she mentions to the quiet time between friends when no conversation needs to occur. Or it is the experience when involved in a creative moment where the left side of the brain engages and you are totally absorbed in time. May we experience this peace often.

Spinning Results

Last night I finished spinning some lovely dyed shetland.

Hot Weather Sunset

What a spectacular sunset occurred last evening on my way to Judy's house to pick up my long awaited Three-Cornered and Long Shawls by Sigridur Halldorsdottir. Since I was heading west the sun grew in the sky up the hill on route 44. Judy, I'm sure you know what I mean. What was so stunning was the orangey-red fullness I witnessed. There were no pink clouds streaking the sky ...only a gray haze! It was breathtaking. When I turned onto Austin Avenue, I lost sight of the sun until I approached the apple orchard; again the sun was another striking sight hanging over the fruited trees. It never fails to cause me great joy....this daily occurrence. Add to this I picked up my new book (Thanks, Judy!) and squirreled it away to enjoy with my evening snack.

I love the many patterns it holds. The pic to the right is just one of the lovely patterns done in two natural icelandic colors.

After the sunset ride I headed to Sue's R I Handspun to knit with some buddies. Sue was checking out patterns, books and magazines; she also showed us a Harrison sweater she is sewing together. Patty was reworking the sleeve of her grandson's naturally dyed sweater. Carol R was sewing together her wonderful Mountain Mohair sweater.Paula was working on purple Opal toe-up socks while Lois started Opal socks in another colorway I want to knit. I continued work on the slip stitch cardigan. I also worked on the Tiger and created a bit of a frenzy. Several skeins of Opal were purchased to make socks. These socks are so much fun.
The pattern is so easy and the results are stunning.

The Tiger is Back, But Not at the Zoo

Yesterday I spent several hours at the Roger Williams Park Zoo. It was a great day in the sunshine checking out the many animal exhibits there. I am of two minds when it comes to zoos. Like many I feel sad to see these exquiste creatures enclosed, but I do appreciate a chance to see animals I would never be able to see so close up and personal. RW zoo seems to have made a good attempt at not putting all their animals in cages as in the old days and has attempted to
place them in more natural surroundings. I marveled at the cheetah, a South American penguin,python snakes, and several giraffes.I even got to see a Shetland sheep!!! Sadly I neglected to take my camera...can you believe it.

There were no tigers which brings me to my latest knitting project......

In case you haven't heard Opal got wise to the fact that it's customers wanted more Tiger. They finally released it, and thanks to Sue at R.I. Handspun I got a skein. I've begun a pair of socks using a simple wave pattern and I'm loving it.More mindless knitting to perk up my knitting slump. I'm also determined to work on two nameless sweaters that could be worn soon.

Energy

On another note.... energy costs have been soaring so I'm trying to think of more ways to cut them down. In the 70's DH and I began buying fuel efficient cars and this will be continued as well as cutting down on unnecessary trips.

I'm also fond of recycling and will try to find more ways to increase this through recycling clothing and reusing paper and plastic bags. In case you haven't heard, most of the major market chains in R.I. are collecting our plastic bags. These bags will be made into plastic products that will make park benches,decks and more. In fact I've seen some of these products at Roger Williams Park this weekend, and they are very durable.

Next is working on ways to make our house more fuel efficient. This will mean lowering the temperature which has been a balmy 68 degrees to whatever we can stand. As I am an inveterate knitter, I have much in the way of woolens to wear :). I need to explore ways to cut down on heat loss through our fireplace which has a glass enclosure that still permits cold air to enter our family room. Any ideas out there to handle this one?

A Quick Knit

I finished a no- brainer scarf in a few days! Here she is just in time for the fall. It has lovely drape and can be worn several ways.

Last night I attended the Oceanstate Knit and Crochet Guild meeting. Quite a few of us turned out. We discussed how we want to have a speakers such as Debbie Newton, Judy Pascal or another name that escapes me now. Jackie showed up with so many lovely baby sweaters. Kathy also brought two knitted helmet liners for the troops. Dorie brought us lovely small bags to store knitting tools or a small project.

50 Years of Friendship

YesterdayRose and I spent the day celebrating our friendship of 50 years. Yes...it's true ...we met in first grade 50 years ago this September. We began the morning with a large breakfast and much talk about our lives. I actually remember the first time I met Rose; she was wearing a dark plaid dress with a white collar. She is a dear friend who exemplifies the saying:

Make new friends, but keep the old;
One is silver and the other gold.

On the knitting front: Kristen asked what I'm submitting to the Big E. I've sent in my Shapely Shawlette, Lizard Socks and a skein of spindlespun yarn.

I 'm close to finishing another shawlette for the fall.

Anniversary Weekend

Here are some lovely mums I received from M and J yesterday. Sunday R and I celebrated our 34th wedding anniversary. Actually we began the celebration with dinner on Saturday night. My mom gave us a lovely house gift of wonderful sheets with a lacy trim. Just what we need :)

On the knitting front I move from project to project. I did manage to start another project with some Ellen Cooper yarn in lovely dark blues, browns and rust using a simple scarf mini- shawl pattern. This is a garter stitch no brainer. I need to continue with Kilmainham scarf and Marisa's wedding knitting. I just remembered this morning that I have two woolen sweaters in the wings...one is the Slip Stitch cardigan and Jolie. I must get back to these so I can wear them in the fall.

On the spinning front I almost finished spinning 4 ounces of dyed Shetland wool. Can I finish this in time for the Big E...probably not. Ouuuuu....I just remembered we need to get our Big E entries to Sue by Tuesday September 6th.

Finally my thoughts are with the hurricane survivors and the families who have lost their loved ones. If you can, give to the Red Cross or some other organization to help the relief effort if you haven't done so already.

Nature Reclaims the Gulf

It has been unspeakably sad these days to learn of the devastation of the Gulf states affected by Katrina. I'm sure it is keenly felt by people all over the US as well as the rest of the world, but as a New Englander I am very distressed because we, too, know how terrible hurricanes can be. The history of New England weather reveals the Hurricane of 38 as well as Hurricane Carol which struck Rhode Island when I was four years old.

The residents of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama are in my thoughts. How difficult their lot must be.

I did make it to Sue's last night and had a good time chatting with Sue who was spinning non- stop on her new Hitchhiker wheel. Paula arrived with her beautiful hand dyed aran in tow. Patty also was present working on her soon to be born granddaughter's knitted blanket.

Here is a pic of the wonderfully rusted fence taken at Caprilands.....

SP Reveals Identity !!

I now know who my SP is!!! Her name is Barbara and she is so generous to me and to other Secret Pals who did not receive their gifts in the SP exchange. She has been an Angel for the SP5 program. Check out her blog and you will see she is a prolific sock knitter.

She sent me 6 ounces of Woolen Rabbit's luscious angora/merino. How did she know that I was lusting after this fiber :) Thanks you Kim for recommending this choice. It is soooo soft!As you can see I received other special gifts like some Alaskan syrup, Serendipity needles, a sweater pattern and some school supplies to remind me that I don't have to go back to school this fall.

Thank you, Barbara!!!

A Day of Unexpected Pleasure

Judith, Kristen and I arrived at Caprilands in North Coventry, CT around 10:30am on this delightful summer day full of expectation for our visit to the famed land of herbs. Something, however, appeared to be amiss. To begin with the gentleman who stood on the property seemed to barely notice our arrival as he continued to spray water on the ground which he said he needed to cleanse. We were not put off by this greeting, but continued to the Gift Shop looking for some direction to guide our tour. We spotted an Open sign and proceeded to go inside, but not before I took a pic of Judith and Kristen.

Once inside we witnessed a museum of a bygone era if that can be safely said of a gift shop frozen in time. The shop contained relics of jams and jellies, Christmas recipes,herbal dainties of all kinds. The rafters were filled with drying herbs left there from long ago.

From there we decided to inquire about the gardens. Much to our dismay the gardens had been abandoned in many respects. Weeds had overgrown such formerly beautiful gardens such as the Star Garden, the Shakespeare garden,the Colonial garden, and the Silver garden. The Silver garden was much touted in gardening circles that paid homage to Adelma Grenier Simmons whose herbal gardening, afternoon teas and luncheons were reputed to be special.



Even the garden of roses was overgrown and crowded, but it's nameplate remained.

I was taken with the cracked pot under some shady trees that must have contained other garden wonders.

One of my favorite plants was the sweet pea.It allowed a lovely winged creature to grace its blossoms.....I managed to take a few Sweet Pea seeds for my garden as a remembrance of the day!

Besides the many plants, we also visited with a kindly Border Collie, three cats and several chickens. Notice the chickens below. The white one sipped in the Saints garden while I snapped away. There also were Scottish Blackface sheep to enjoy.

After some repeated attempts to learn more of the farm, the gentleman ( executor of Caprilands) began to tell us about the place including some of the more remarkable specimens on the property. Below you see a native Vibernum bush with beautiful orange berries.

This path was a reminder of Frost's poem The Road Not Taken .....

Lastly we marveled at the main house which was built in 1740.


All in all we had a wonderful day in spite of the fact that Caprilands was not in its original glory. We imagined its former beauty and appreciated it's present beauty. I can only hope some gardening group will restore it for others to continue to enjoy.

The End

Woolgathering

Yesterday....a fellow woolgatherer joined me for a romp. Carol R and I headed to Warwick to find wool remnants and wool we did find:purple and checks, brown tweed and striped colors....all to make a wool quilt. I put the wool in the washing machine and dryer to full it for quilt pieces for Home and Harvest quilt featured in several Quiltmaker's magazines. Just what I need another project :)

We also stopped at a local bookstore where I found and old pamphlet called New Edgings full of crocheted and knitted edgings. After that visit we landed at the new Yarn at Lace Wings next to Kabloom's on Baldhill Road. This is their second store...the first being in Pawtucket. They have some lovely Cascade 220 on sale in tons of colors. I did not buy any yarn!!! Instead I bought the new Three Tweed booklet with patterns designed by Sally Melville. I want to make the jacket on the cover....

From Lace Wings we headed to Manmade by Jonne's to check out his hat kits. We also saw many interesting yarns and a rug loom for sale.

Below is my latest skein of handspun hot off the wheel last night. I spun it from a Romney fleece from Elihu Farms that Sue and Patty procured for me from a recent sheep and wool festival I could not attend. I absolutely adore the browns and golds in this skein.

To Felt or Not to Felt

Well....what's the verdict? Should I felt this small purse? I knitted it out of some handspun that is well aged. Last night at Sue's the consensus was to felt it. What do you think?

Knit In: As usual we had a great time sharing our work last night at Sue's. We discussed wool quilting, knitting patterns and projects. It appears that our dear Carol R is out of her knitting slump at last. She working on Flower Basket Shawl and has renewed my interest in starting another one. Hers is knitted in her very own butterscotch handspun yarn. She also started the latest Interweave sock pattern in Mountain colors, but see her for that story :). Paula continues her work on the lovely aran, and she finished the Spiral Yoke Sweater in seawater- dyed yarn that is gorgeous. I brought along some show and tell that you have seen on earlier blog entries. Sue showed us the newest Wild Fibers magazine issue.

Below is a pic of my new Keen Shoes!!! I love these shoes; they are waterproof and sooooo comfortable. I got them at Keen's in Wakefield in the boy's department at 20% off. Women's size 8 is equal to boy's size 6 or 7. Keep this in mind ladies because the price of boy's shoes are a lot lower. Of course.... I had to buy boy's Teva's as well....

Today I have to go wool remnant shopping...if anyone wants to go call me :)

Of Dreamcatchers and Lizards

Last weekend while flipping the mattress DH caused my Dreamcatcher to fall off the bedpost. I thought he broke it, but I was able to fix it. While repairing it ,I remembered that Cathy sent me two Dove feathers. I added these to the Dreamcatcher since I lost some feathers a while ago. It should work properly now and catch some bad dreams and let the good ones remain....thanks Cathy!!!

Here are the finished Lizard socks!!! I feel so good about finishing these as well as the Shapely Shawlette....I even picked up Kilmainham Scarf this week and worked on it two times( I can do it, Paula).
Tonight I look forward to knitting at Sue's. Hope to see some of you there.....

Secret Pal Gifts Arrive!

As you know this has been such a hot weekend. My birthday broke a record with a " feel like" temperature of 105 degrees, but nonetheless I had a great day! I had calls from family and friends and DH took me out for a lovely dinner. I also was wowed by my SP who had no idea of the date of my Bday. She sent me the loveliest collection of gifts!!! Another wonderful skein of a to die for sock yarn!!! The other gifts are so wonderful too!!! What a thoughtful SP!!!! Check out the pic below....

I've been knitting a few afghan square as well. This is the first finished square made out of my handspun. Not a great shot, but hey you can see some of the cabling.I'm also working on a magic square I'll post about when finished.

Stay cool folks!!!

Project Completion Continues

I am so pleased with my project completion to date. I noticed that Kristin sets knitting goals for herself which is a great idea, but not one that I readily embrace so when I get on a roll with my projects I am so thrilled. Some bloggers show every step in the completion process which I assume motivates them to finish. That doesn't always work for me as you know since some projects I mention get lost in the shuffle. Why? Because I'm project envious. I see what everyone else is working on and I want to make that too !!!!

Norma is having a fit because she hasn't finished some of her projects. I was there, too, Norma and know how you feel.

I am almost finished with the Lizard Socks...today they will be finished just in time to enter them in the knitting competition of the Big E. This makes two projects finished in one week. I plan to move on to Kilmainham Scarf and Slip Stitch Cardigan soon.


Today...... August 13th I have the distinct pleasure of sharing my birthday with a virtual spinner and fiber enthusiast. I have never ever met someone who shares my birth date until I began blogging. I hope to celebrate the day by not doing any housework or cooking! I plan to knit and spin and read to my heart's content. I hope Cathy enjoys her day. Stop over and wish her a special day!

You Just Have to Love Rusting Iron

I know I'm certifiably insane. I love rusting iron. I particularly love the burnt orange rust in the picture. I took this shot at Hampton beach during a lovely morning walk by the shore.